Comparing different estimates of productivity produced by the Office for national statistics

Abstract

This article describes the three different types of productivity measures which ONS publishes and examines the particular question of comparing public and private sector productivity. It shows that measures of output per person or person hour are not comparable with measures of output per unit of total input; and that measures of valueadded per unit of input are not comparable with measures of gross output per unit of input. Approximate comparisons can be made of valued added productivity growth between the group of industries which include health, education and public administration and the market sector, though there is some overlap between the two.